Shasta County man shoots wife through wall, says it was accident

Palo Cedro >> A Palo Cedro woman was taken to a Redding hospital Sunday after she was shot by her husband at their home.

But the shooting may have been an accident, Shasta County sheriff’s deputies said.

Deputies went to the home on Old Oak Lane shortly before 3 p.m. after the woman’s husband, who was not identified, reported he had accidentally shot his wife.

The woman, also not identified, had a bullet wound in her right shoulder. She was conscious and calmly spoke to them, according to a sheriff’s office report.

The woman told deputies she was alone in a room when she heard a loud bang then felt a sharp pain on her right shoulder.

Deputies began first aid and medical personnel arrived. She was subsequently taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

The man told deputies he was in a room by himself testing out a new magazine he had purchased for his .45-caliber handgun, deputies said.

He loaded the magazine and placed it into the gun, they said, adding he pulled the slide back on the gun and loaded a bullet into the gun to make sure the magazine would feed the bullets reliably.

After loading the gun he removed the magazine and went to pull back the gun’s slide to remove the live bullet, deputies said.

According to the man, the gun went off and the bullet traveled through the wall into the next room where his wife was seated. He ran into the other room and found he had shot his wife and called 9-1-1.

Deputies said they found where the bullet had traveled from the room where the man was seated into the next room, through the woman’s shoulder, then through another wall behind her with the bullet finally coming to rest in the living room.

Based on the evidence at the scene and corresponding the statements from the husband and wife, it appeared the shooting may have been accidental, the Sheriff’s Office said.

The man was not arrested and the Sheriff’s Office will finalize its investigation and determine if any criminal action will be taken, deputy said.